Getting Ripped With Incline Cardio – Interview With Clay Rogers

Update 10/7: Unfortunately Clay has decided to close Incline Cardio to the public due to personal reasons. But there’s still a ton of actionable, useful info below so be sure to read the interview.

If you frequent my blog, then you know I hate all that flashy fluff and marketing BS.

So you can imagine how shocked I was when I stumbled upon Clay Rogers and his Incline Cardio approach to fat loss. Clay and I share similar philosophies and approaches to getting lean and building a celebrity physique so check out the interview below where I drilled Clay on his approach to cardio and why it’s such a great way to burn fat and even build your six-pack.

1) First off thanks for doing this interview, Clay. Can you give us a brief summary about yourself?

Well, the first thing I’m always quick to point out when asked to do that is, “I’m in no way a ‘fitness expert’ or ‘guru’…hell, I’m not even certified in anything fitness-related.”

So, there you go. My life is primarily lived outside the gym.

What I am is basically just a persistent nerd. When I want something, I just don’t give up on it until I’ve got it totally figured out – and getting six-pack lean and proportionally muscular (in the “underwear model” or “Hollywood actor playing a superhero” kind of way) was one of those ideas I got hooked on a long time ago.

As in, years ago.

But despite researching my butt off and perfectly applying every single tactic I could find…from the “basics” to the most “cutting-edge” research available…my results were always dismal. Embarrassingly dismal. Nowhere near what I wanted.

But it’s just not in me to give up on something like that.

So over the years, out of necessity, I ended up stumbling onto and developing all kinds of alternative physique transformation methodologies that DID work when nothing else would. Some are weird, some fly in the face of what most experts would tell you is the “right” thing to do based on all the latest research…

But frankly, I don’t care if something’s “right” or “wrong”.

I just care if it produces results.

A lot of people have asked me for my methods – so I teach them now, usually with astounding results (because I can teach it effectively from the perspective of a “normal” person who struggles to normally see any results at all).

And what I teach flat-out produces results – even if it’s weird at times.

2) You have a pretty cool approach to cardio called “Incline Cardio.” Can you give us a brief explanation of what that is exactly?

A lot of people are under the impression that ALL exercise has to be extremely intense to be effective. That’s what’s constantly preached to us in the media and mainstream fitness magazines.

And while I do believe extreme intensity is necessary at times (muscle growth for example), I have discovered what’s essentially a fat burning loophole.

This exploit is basically extremely low-intensity cardio, performed in a very specific way, for a very specific amount of time, done at a very specific time of day.

1. It basically has the same hormonal benefits of HIIT (that whole “you burn more fat after you perform it” thing people tout) – from a hormonal stand point, HIIT and Incline Cardio are essentially the same.

2. Incline Cardio can be performed up to 6x week which is very difficult to do with HIIT without running into the risk of overtraining.

3. Incline Cardio doesn’t interfere with weight training. In fact, it can enhance your weight lifting efforts due to it’s low impact on the body and hormonal benefits.

4. The best part – Incline Cardio can be performed up to 2x a day…even on a “6x a week” schedule. If you’re looking for massive fast fat loss results, I highly recommend this.

And this barely scratches the surface of its true benefits.

Basically, it’s a convenient, low-impact way to generate huge results. I’ve regularly use it both with myself and with hundreds of my clients to build muscle while losing fat – something most “gurus” say is flat-out impossible for a natural athlete and lifter.

Also I forgot to mention:

– It’s just as effective as it is for women as it is for men.

– It’s low impact enough that almost anyone can use it (how helpful is it to people with knee/joint issues to be told to perform HIIT for fat loss?)

I could go on and on here.

Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m hating on HIIT.

HIIT is awesome!

In fact, it can be strategically used with Incline Cardio to get results extremely fast. But, in my opinion… if your goal is pure fat loss, HIIT is a bit overkill and unnecessary.

4) This sounds awesome. There’s just so much hype around HIIT these days. What made you go back to this “old school” approach to cardio.

To be honest, I discovered Incline Cardio almost completely by accident.

Like others, I was still in the “HIIT is the only way to effectively lose fat” and “you can’t lose fat and build muscle at the same time” mindset when I discovered Incline Cardio.

During this time, I was at a new gym where my main goal was muscle growth.

And somehow “magically,” without any huge changes to my routine, I was building more muscle than ever before.

The craziest part – I was losing body fat at the same time!

A lot of people are under the impression that ALL exercise has to be extremely intense to be effective. That’s what’s constantly preached to us in the media and mainstream fitness magazines.

It even got to the point where my friends and family were asking what I was on, in a fun way.

Honestly, I was kinda of wondering what I was on, too. I was in this new gym for approx 5 weeks.

I was traveling – and when I came home, my results flat-lined and even went backwards a little bit. And this is despite eating the same diet and following the exact same workout plan.

After a bit of reverse-engineering, I’d discovered what was producing the results.

It was the uphill walk that I did after each workout (My gym was located at the bottom of a hill and I lived on top.)

The moment I did the exact same walk exactly the same on a treadmill, the results came back instantly.

Since then I’ve refined it, and even tried implementing running, sprinting ,stair stepping, and everything in between… but walking has definitely been the most effective.

I now preach the benefits of walking to everyone…

5) Can you tell us the best way to combine incline cardio with weight training? Would we do incline cardio after thee workout, on off days, or both?

In a perfect world, you’d do both!

Incline Cardio is most effective when done right after an intense workout – either weight training or HIIT. But it’s still effective if performed on it’s own on “off” days.

But the best part is that if you REALLY want to massively boost your results, you can perform it earlier in the day after your workout AND later in the day on its own (or vice versa) 2 times per day.

This is my recommendation for folks who need the fastest results possible.

6) And if someone is trying to lose fat, how often can they do incline cardio?

Because it’s such a low-impact activity, you can do it up to 6x week…even if you’re doing the “accelerated results” program done 2x-a-day.

But you don’t need to do it that much.

It really just depends on what your fitness goals are. Do you want to lose fat extremely quickly, at a moderate speed, at a slow pace, or do you just want to maintain your current physique.

It really depends- 1x a day 2 days per week all the way up to 2x a day 6x week – it all depends on you final goal.

7) You said before that incline cardio helps you train your abs and build a six pack, how exactly does that work?

Ah yes…

I didn’t say much about this in this interview, but this is absolutely one of the biggest benefits of Incline Cardio.

What I found out is that abs are best developed via what I call the “Abdominal Stabilization Principle” – they’re used as stabilizers in your body (to hold your torso upright and stabilize you during pretty much everything you do), and that’s the best way to develop them…via stabilization movements.

Because of the exact speed and incline used, your abs are essentially taking over the entire movement, and thus get trained the entire Incline Cardio sessions.

In other words, Incline Cardio is not only the most effective way to rapidly lose body fat…

But it’s also one of the most effective ab developers as well.

I’ve got galleries of full blown six pack developed quickly exclusively via Incline Cardio, with no direct ab work whatsoever.

Like I said earlier, I hate hype and I hate hyping things up.

But Incline Cardio is one of the few “jack of all trades” movements I’ve ever done. There is really nothing else like it, and I swear by it, not only by the results it produces but for helping me achieve and maintain my <10% bodyfat physique year round.

Dan Wiley is someone else. I did Clay’s other program (Hollywood Physique) which includes incline cardio. It worked as described, and Clay was giving excellent feedback and coaching to anyone who asked online. I don’t see how the program could be a scam, because there was so much detail in the instructions, and lots of feedback.

The only downside is I hadn’t been lifting for years as he recommended, so I was super lean but didn’t have enough muscle so I had a six pack but mostly looked skinny (rather than jacked) in clothes.

His incline cardio advice is completely legit. I happened to stumble upon this site already doing my own version of “incline cardio”. It’s not that complicated and it burns fat/calories so efficiently like nothing I’ve done before. I was already in very good shape but wanted to switch things up because I hit fat % plateau. I’ve been doing incline fast pace walking for two weeks and my 4 pack is. now a legit 6 pack.

I started doing this incline workout 3xs a week at highest incline your treadmill will go up to and I start at 5 mins slow 2.0 – then put it 2.5 for 15 mins , while I lift weights to tone my arms. After the remaining 15 mins , I will go up 3.0 speed 30secs , then up 3.5 -30secs , for the remaining time..,, workout is really well for women. I do only 3xs a week because before this I noticed I would bulk up if I over did it.. this really worked to not over work my muscles. In the summer I walk 1.5 hrs along with this workout daily. Hope this helps ladies!